“The 2019 elections took place in a generally peaceful environment,” said AU observer mission head Hailemariam Desalegn, the former prime minister of Ethiopia.

Despite the pockets of violence
that led to deaths of at least 16 people across Nigeria on Saturday during the presidential
and national assembly elections, the African Union has endorsed it as peaceful.

“The 2019 elections
took place in a generally peaceful environment,” said AU observer mission head
Hailemariam Desalegn, the former prime minister of Ethiopia in his first public
comments about the presidential election on Monday.

As many as 39 people
have been killed in election violence, civil society groups said on Sunday.